MAQAM – Arabic Scales for Live’s Instruments
MAQAM – Arabic Scales for Live’s Instruments Outside of the western world, there are scales and tones which are not so familiar to the western trained ear. This is due to the simple fact that instruments in different regions of the world are tuned with microtonal differences which give various areas their unique sound. In the world of electronic production, these microtonal sounds are a bit difficult to capture without the help of plugins like the MAQAM. The MAQAM “microtunes” the 3rd and 7th notes in any scale to quarter-tones to replicate an Arabic originated sound. Afterall Maqam means, “the system of melodic modes used in traditional Arabic music,” so MAQAM is a plugin based around capturing that unique middle eastern sound. Download the plugin here now, currently being sold for a “name your own price,” deal. To add another level of appeal or a different region to your …
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Biotek – Organic Synthesizer
Biotek – Organic Synthesizer Tracktion has recently introduced its first virtual synthesizer which uses samples from organic and urban sounds, making for a powerful instrument. The BioTek Synthesizer really worked to distinguish itself from other synthesizers you could find in the market, by tapping into 20 years worth of samples recorded in locations like Seattle, California, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon and Texas. BioTek is backed with a team of legends including Wolfram Franke, the main software architect behind multiple synthesizer programs for the esteemed german software company, Waldorf. Sound design is lead by Tahio Yamada, who is credited for the Alesis Andromeda synthesizer and the M-Audio Venom while graphic design is led by Kristina Childs. With a team of daring and innovative minds, BioTek ends up with the a refined, highly intuitive and highly powerful virtual modular synth. So what makes the interface so fresh? Tracktion describes it like so: …
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IRCAMAX 2 – Scientific Max for Live Effects
IRCAMAX 2 – Scientific Max for Live Effects IRCAM, French research institute revolved around the science of music and sound music, recently released a set of effects designed for Ableton’s Max for Live called IRCAMAX 2. Much of the effects released are a sort of touch up to many of Ableton’s preset effects, with the taste of cutting edge research. Some of the effects you’d find within the IRCAMAX 2 are the following: A polyphonic synthesizer, a physical modeled filter, a vocal harmonizer, a freeze effect which allows you to “freeze and manipulate live or recorded sounds, an audio-to-MIDI converter, spectral and grain delay, a multi effect that includes delay, reverb, chorus, auto pan and finally a 3-oscillator, 3-envelope polyphonic synth. Much of the effects draw from IRCAM’s previously developed Modalys engine. The set of Max for Live Plugins are currently being sold for $199 and is seriously worth …
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Mogees – Play the World
Mogees – Play the World Ever looked at your cabinet, or printer, or a tree and thought, “I want to play that?” Mogees allows you to do just that. Funded through Kickstarter, a group from East London, developed a small sensor pickup which allows you to ‘plug-n-play,’ any inanimate object, (or animate, if you’re into that sorta thing,) to use it as an instrument. The way Mogees work goes as follows: You stick the little sensor onto something, connect it to your phone, plug in some headphones and bang on whatever you’re trying to play. The sensor then picks up the vibration, sends it to your phone, and plays whatever sound you assigned. Due to its powerful sensory capabilities, it is able to tell the difference between different hits and gestures, which gives you the ability to assign each hit/gesture to different sounds. So in the end, Mogee can tell the …
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nOb- TheOnly Knob You’ll Need
nOb- TheOnly Knob You’ll Need Sleek, solid, and effective: the nOb should make its way onto your messy, hardware filled desk. Look through Kickstarter and you’re bound to find a wide range of ideas, and inventions, that serve to ease the subtle restrictions with all aspects of life. The nOb is a singular, extremely precise knob control, which is made to be vastly encompassing with its capabilities. Packed into a vintage looking, wood casing, nOb provides highly capable functions, that will expand your work flow tenfold. “nOb is able to control virtually any parameter you would normally adjust with your mouse, delivering out-of-the-box compatibility with any operating system and software package. You simply have to point your mouse cursor to the parameter you want to control and use nOb’s big knob to fine-tune it to taste.” su_youtube_advanced url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK94pop46xA” showinfo=”no” rel=”no” modestbranding=”yes” With 2400 ticks per revolution, the nOb gives …
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Protoverb- Free Experimental Reverb
Protoverb- Free Experimental Reverb The biggest struggle digital reverb faces is to emulate a ‘real life’ reverb sound. Reverb affects could easily sit your sound farther back with competing noises, or add a tail of sound to make it ‘reverberate,’ but the attempt to replicate real life reverb is a bit more difficult. With that said, the sound of many reverb effects are generally accepted, and experimental reverb can prove to be stiff. U-He Protoverb is a free experimental reverb plug-in, that lets you randomize and get into tweaking your reverb sound. Results can be a real hit or miss, resulting in either warm organic sounding reverbs, to gritty unnatural digital sounding reverbs. Protoverb is laid out as if it is a reverb pedal, looking like something you’d find in the back of a used gear section, at a music shop in Echo Park. The idea behind the Protoverb is to randomize between two …
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